Lamont v. Rogers

479 A.2d 1274, 35 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1061, 1984 D.C. App. LEXIS 459
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 21, 1984
Docket83-133
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 479 A.2d 1274 (Lamont v. Rogers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lamont v. Rogers, 479 A.2d 1274, 35 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1061, 1984 D.C. App. LEXIS 459 (D.C. 1984).

Opinion

TERRY, Associate Judge:

Petitioner, an employee of the District of Columbia in the Office of the Controller, filed a complaint in June 1982 with the District’s Office of Human Rights (OHR). Her grievance was founded on her failure since February 1980 to gain a promotion, particularly to the post of Chief of Treasury Operations, to which a man was appointed. Petitioner alleged that her supervisors in the Controller’s Office had discri *1276 minated against her on the bases of sex, personal appearance, and family responsibilities, and had retaliated against her when she protested, in violation of the District’s Human Rights Law, D.C.Code §§ 1-2501 through 1-2557 (1981). She also claimed that her supervisors had discriminated against females as a class in hiring and promoting.

An OHR investigator conducted a fact-finding conference and issued a recommendation to respondent Anita Shelton, the District’s Director of Equal Employment Opportunity. Finding that petitioner had failed to show probable cause to believe that a violation of the Human Rights Law had occurred, Mrs. Shelton dismissed the complaint. Respondent Elijah Rogers, the City Administrator, affirmed the dismissal.

Petitioner argues that the dismissal of her complaint violated regulations governing employment discrimination claims by District of Columbia employees, and that the regulations themselves, contained in Mayor’s Order No. 75-230, 1975 D.C.Stat. 510, are defective. Respondents contend, on the other hand, that petitioner’s complaint is not a “contested case” within the meaning of D.C.Code § 1-1502(8) (1981), and that this court therefore lacks jurisdiction to entertain her petition for review. We agree with respondents and dismiss the petition.

This court’s power to review administrative proceedings is conferred by the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act (DCAPA), D.C.Code §§ 1-1501 through 1-1510 (1981). Section 1-1510(a) provides in pertinent part:

Any person suffering a legal wrong, or adversely affected or aggrieved, by an order or decision of the Mayor or an agency in a contested case, is entitled to a judicial review thereof in accordance with this subchapter upon filing in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals a written petition for review.... Upon the filing of a petition for review, the Court shall have jurisdiction of the proceeding, and shall have power to affirm, modify, or set aside the order or decision complained of, in whole or in part, and, if need be, to remand the case for further proceedings, as justice may require. [Emphasis added.]

Thus our jurisdiction over this petition depends upon whether the matter before the City Administrator and the Director of Equal Employment Opportunity was a “contested case,” as defined in D.C.Code § 1-1502(8):

The term “contested case” means a proceeding before the Mayor or any agency in which the legal rights, duties, or privileges of specific parties are required by law (other than this subchap-ter), or by constitutional right, to be determined after a hearing before the May- or or before an agency, but shall not include:
(A) Any matter subject to a subsequent trial of the law and the facts de novo in any court;
(B) The selection or tenure of an officer or employee of the District .... [ 1 ]

Like the present case, O’Neill v. District of Columbia Office of Human Rights, 355 A.2d 805 (D.C.1976), involved a petition for review of the summary dismissal of a District of Columbia employee’s job discrimination complaint. We held in O’Neill that because the petitioners were also entitled to sue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b), their *1277 complaint was “subject to a subsequent trial of the law and the facts de novo,” D.C.Code § 1-1502(8)(A), and hence was not a “contested case.” Accordingly, we dismissed the petition for want of jurisdiction. Respondents argue that petitioner here has a cause of action under Title VII, and that O’Neill therefore controls.

Petitioner’s complaints of sexual discrimination and retaliation are cognizable under 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2(a)(l) and 2000e-3(a), respectively. She questions, however, whether in fact she will be able to pursue them. Because of an error either by her or by OHR, her complaint was not cross-filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within the required time. Nevertheless, as she acknowledges, the EEOC is investigating her complaint; her Title VII claim is still alive. Clearly, then, petitioner’s sexual discrimination and retaliation claims fall within the scope of O’Neill.

Petitioner does raise a point which O’Neill did not address. She contends that because compensatory damages, which are authorized by D.C.Code § l-2553(a)(1)(D), have usually been held unavailable under Title VII, see, e.g., Dual v. Griffin, 446 F.Supp. 791, 800 n. 40 (D.D.C.1977), the Title VII route does not lead to a de novo trial within the meaning of section 1-1502(8)(A). Respondents counter, however, that petitioner cannot obtain compensatory damages under District of Columbia law in any event. They maintain that her available remedies are limited to those spelled out in section 19(b) of Mayor’s Order No. 75-230, which does not mention compensatory damages. We reject this argument because section 19(b) also states that remedial actions upon a finding of discrimination “need not be limited” to those enumerated.

Thus it may be that there are more remedies available to petitioner under the Human Rights Law than under Title VII. But she has not sought compensatory damages. She has not even hinted that promotion and back pay, available under both the Human Rights Law and Title VII, would not compensate her for any damage she may have suffered. Absent any claim for further damages, the purported disparity in the available remedies makes no difference; O’Neill controls.

It is only petitioner’s sexual discrimination and retaliation claims, of course, which O’Neill bars us from considering. Title VII provides no remedy for discrimination based on personal appearance and family responsibilities, both of which petitioner has alleged.

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654 A.2d 847 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1995)
Timus v. District of Columbia Department of Human Rights
633 A.2d 751 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1993)
Glenbrook Road Ass'n v. District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment
605 A.2d 22 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1992)
Simpson v. District of Columbia Office of Human Rights
597 A.2d 392 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1991)
Parlato v. State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations
548 A.2d 144 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1988)
Newman v. District of Columbia
518 A.2d 698 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
479 A.2d 1274, 35 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1061, 1984 D.C. App. LEXIS 459, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lamont-v-rogers-dc-1984.